Test Prep - Study Tips

You can study hard during the few months before the exam, and review everything in the weeks leading up to the test date, but it's time to rest and eliminate stress in the last few days prior to taking an exam. Not only read the syllabus, but study the grading system that's going to be used for each class. Also, get a bulletin board for your bedroom, to put above your desk. Post the course syllabus for each class on the bulletin board, and highlight deadlines, as well as the requirements for the course. Professors like to follow the texts they assign, so make an effort to read all of the assigned material. Ask yourself questions about what you're learning, and limit your study time to short intervals of 30 minutes to an hour. After reading a lot or solving a lot of problems, your brain needs to relax. It's like a mini-cramming session every day, and the chapter you just read will be reinforced by what the professor has to say. After class, review the main points that were written on the blackboard. If the teacher took the time to highlight certain sections of the text, you can bet you'll see the same information posed as questions on either the midterm, or final exam.

Exams are a huge portion of your final grade, so you need to become an expert test-taker. The main thing
is to know what to expect. Every professor will let you know in their own particular way which questions they will
be asking on the big exams. They often raise the pitch of their voice when stressing certain
points they're making. By determining ahead of time what will be asked on an exam, you can
trim down the amount of information you need to learn. Be sure to get a full night's sleep before any major test. Even more than studying for the test, you're going to need your full mental capacity, refreshed and recharged by sleep. On the test day itself, arrive early, and pick a seat near the windows, in order to get good sunlight and a bit of oxygen. Take
time at the beginning of the test to read the instructions carefully. For multiple-choice tests, look at the number of questions and the number of minutes you have. If there are more minutes than questions, you have a bit over a minute for each. However, if there are more questions than minutes, you better scramble, as you have under a minute to answer each question. You need to be around question #10 at ten minutes in, or you're falling behind.

Eliminate outlying answers right at the start. Average all
numbers, and look for tips in the question that point you to the answer. Trust your instincts, and don't change your answers on a second pass. If the first answer, A, is a little too obvious, it's
probably a decoy. Test makers like to group the real answers with confusing second choices nearby. Look for patterns in words in the vocabulary section. Read every question fresh, word by word, like a hawk, and pay attention.
Finally, if it's a written-answer test, know the point values of each question, and complete the most valuable
ones first. If you're falling behind in a class, and the lectures seem too dense, get help before the situation becomes
impossible. Some students are too shy to admit difficulty, or just don't realize that free tutoring may be available.
You can study all you want, but in order to achieve top grades, you need to go further than remembering
facts, and get a firm grasp on the material.

Math Review

In the math section, saving just a few seconds on each test question can lead to a much higher math score. I like to start with addition and subtraction, as you can waste precious moments on each question and make careless errors.

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